There was this wise man I once knewWho lived down my street a block or 2In a back alley where the autumn leaves blewA simple man with a heart so true

John Doe was a quiet man, who kept to himself and lived off the landHe panned his living with a rusty tin canBeen living off the streets since Vietnam

When Johnny came marching homeFrom the Vietnam war he was alone

Slapped with a label, he hid his face, the nightmare of warWas one he couldn't erase, when Johnny came marching home(He said) I can't let go, I can't forget

25 years later, that smell I still rememberAs I watched so many young men lose their lives, on that battlefieldTo Vietnam they sent us barely, old enough they placed usOn the front lines in a land we had no place...We had no place!!!

On the day I left that battlefield, I might as well have diedBecause nothing in my life this far, has ever felt quite rightAnd each and everyday I try to pick the pieces upBut the pieces never seem to fit, the pain becomes too much

It's hard to describe, so hard to relate, it's hard letting goWhen you can't escapeTo think that when we came home our country turned its backAnd labeled us all murderers, spit on us, spit on us and laughed

He spoke with such convicting words, I felt like I was thereA simple frail and shattered soul, the soldier never dies he sangI thought about how it must feel to watch all your friends dieSo far away so far from home, fighting wars we had no place!